PlantFiles: Tea Plant
Camellia sinensis

I live in the southern gulf islands of British Columbia, Canada. It grows very well here. We are zone 8+. I have not personally harvested any tea from it yet, but I am looking forward to it, as I drink mostly green tea.

Butterflies will use the blooms as a nectar source.

Camellia sinensis has grown for many years outside at Kanapaha Botanical Gardens (zone 8b/9a), enduring yearly frosts in the mid 20s and even 18F last winter with no damage. It is rated to zone 8 by several sources. Seeds can take 2 to 5 months to germinate so have patience and don't let them dry out from the time they are collected through germination. While plants enjoy moisture, they will not flourish in poorly-drained areas.

This is a great plant to grow in a container if you live in the Southwestern part of the United States. I grew my tea plants from seeds and have not had a single problem with them so far.

Quick notes:
1. Make sure that you soak the seeds for 24 hours before you plant them.
2. Tea plants take about 4-5 weeks to sprout.
3. Always keep the soil moist, but well drained.
4. Tea plants seem to be sensitive to slight over-fertilization.
5. They love full sunlight, however, growing them in the shade helps the leaves develop flavor.

there is a tea plantation just outside of Charleston, SC that is in operation and is owned by the Bigelow Tea company. it produces wonderful tea with a unique taste that only the Lowcountry of South Carolina can supply. the tea is a more reddish-brown color than most tea. the tea plant is hardy to zone 8.

This is the famous tea plant, one of the most economically important plants of the world. From the young leaves they make the tea. In China, it´s been used for over than 2500 years for it´s medicinal properties, probably. These properties are now largely studied by scientists, and researches show that ceratin substances in the tea can be used against epilepsia, emotional disturbs and cancer. They also found out that certain tea substances are toxic against Staphylococcus, and others are efficient against Influenza viruses and HIV, breaking their reproduction process.

This is a 2m tall shrub with dark green, hard and shiny leaves with serrated borders, making a beautiful foliage. The newer leaves are tender, light green. Flowers are rather smaller than other Camellias, white, with lots of stamens. Bees seem to like the pollen.

It likes full sun, but tolerates some shade. Plant it on moist, organic soil.

Edit: I have to add that recently I have found records of unidentified Theaceae plants collected in the forests of Rio de Janeiro. I identified them as Camellia sinensis, based on pictures, living and herborized specimens. Also, recently some tea plants were spotted growing wild in the mountains north of here. This means that this wonderful species escaped from cultivation (as it was cultivated here in the 19th century) and is showing itself very adapted to the cooler and humid climate of the mountains in the Rio de Janeiro state, very very far from its natural habitat. Right now I have a volunteer seedling resting on the table by my side.